Garage

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɡæ.ɹɪdʒ/

Definitions

1. A building or structure used for parking vehicles or storing tools and equipment
2. A sheltered area designed for the parking of automobiles, the storage of various tools, or the servicing and maintenance of vehicles
3. A construction intended for vehicle accommodation, tool storage, or workshop activities involving machinery and repairs

Etymology: The word that now means a building for parking cars began as a verb about protection. Old French "garer" meant to keep under cover, dock, shunt or guard, and the noun "garage" meant the act of sheltering or keeping something safe. Its ancestors reach back to Proto-Germanic verbs meaning "to watch" or "to defend," with roots in Frankish and Old Norse, where a related verb meant to defend oneself. The sense of a parked vehicle came much later. Only when motorcars spread did French speakers turn the sheltering noun into a place to house them, so a word once about shelter and defence ended up naming the shed where a car waits. English borrowed the word from French in that new sense, which is why its spelling and stress still look French, even though its deepest roots are Germanic.

Synonyms: carport, shed